Your thoughts on Half-Blood Prince

[kumainpink]

What are your thoughts on this book? Personally, I hate it.

I loathed the way Dumbledore used Harry to get information from Slughorn, coupled with the lackluster training that was involved. Yes, learning about Voldemort was important, but that could have been done in a couple of days! And the memory wasn't really that important to begin with - Dumbledore already knew about the horcruxes.

About Slughorn: Why didn't Dumbledore just convince Slughorn to talk about it? Dumbledore is one of the most famous, most important men in the world! it wouldn't have been hard for him to get Slughorn drunk and convince him to use the memory in the first place! Or better yet, just look at it for himself. Dumbledore is skilled at Legilimency, isn't he?

Further more, how in the hell did Dumbledore think Harry was going to get the memory to begin with? Why entrust that to a student, famous or no? Harry isn't a smooth talker most of the time, and wouldn't have the ability to convince Slughorn to part with the memory. And to make Harry feel bad about it was really unfair.


But Dumbledore isn't the only source of my ire. Ron and Hermione proved to be terrible friends in this as well. I'm going to get a lot of people who disagree with me, but here is my reasoning:

First of all, we know that Harry had an obsession with Draco being a Death Eater. A dark, frantic obsession. I think this is because Harry was at the edge of his breaking point, and needed something to keep him focused. This wasn't the healthiest method around, but it was enough to keep him from brooding on Sirius.

My problem with Ron and Hermione is that they didn't support him in the least. They didn't even make an honest effort to understand Harry's side, in spite of the fact that Draco would be a good suspect. Yes, there was no actual proof, but there wasn't any in CoS either. And Harry supported Hermione back then, didn't he? Why couldn't she return the same favor to her?

Harry was horribly slandered and named a crazy liar the year before. They shouldn't have constantly dismissed him the way they did, at least to spare his feelings in the matter. At the very least, they should have tried to seek help! They weren't exactly observant, now were they?

Instead, they were far too focused on trying to make each other jealous, and used other people to do so: Lavender and Cormac respectively. It's just...they were so freaking horrible in this book that it makes me ill.

Personal Peeve: Then there is the sudden boom of interest Harry shows for Ginny. I do not like Harry/Ginny, simply for the lack of character development we see with Ginny. If she had been around more, or if Harry had showed interest in her sooner, I'd have accepted this pairing without problems.

If you read all this, you're amazing!

[sherza]

add in the offhand GIGGLY conversation about love potioning (presumably) Arthur so she got her man that Molly, Ginny, and Hermione had.

That had me convinced a love potion was involved in Harry's sudden, very jealous interest in Ginny. Not to mention that the three of them thinking it's *funny* to drug someone like that is more than a little horrifying.

[kumainpink]

Jun 12, 2012 4:03:45 GMT -5 sherza said:

add in the offhand GIGGLY conversation about love potioning (presumably) Arthur so she got her man that Molly, Ginny, and Hermione had.

That had me convinced a love potion was involved in Harry's sudden, very jealous interest in Ginny. Not to mention that the three of them thinking it's *funny* to drug someone like that is more than a little horrifying.

Yes, I forgot about that damn love potion crap. I can't believe anyone can find that funny! Especially considering how Voldemort came to be...

And you know what? That's a very good theory! I'm going to add that to my personal cannon!

[Serena R. Snape]

I agree with both of you. I always found it strange that Harry could get interested in Ginny so... so. I just can't find a word for it. I mean, he knew her for five-six years and only then did he notice her when he didn't notice her before at all? Too strange. That's why I don't read much Ginny/Harry. It's not that I dislike the pairing, I just don't get it.

I much prefer Harry being with Luna. It's like they're on the same page sometimes. They have more similarities than differences. They can see, feel and think the same way. In OOTP they could both see the thestrals and they both saw someone die and they both lost someone dear in their family. The both of them heard voices behind the Veil in the Department of Mysteries. Luna is Harry's haven from the outside world, she comforts him the most when he's feeling the lowest. She brings hope back to him and even if half the things she says aren't true, I think that they can still learn from each other. Harry can be himself with her, she can make him lighten up.

Plus, he went to Slughorn's party with her. 'nuff said. XD

[sherza]

While Harry/Luna is definitely cute ... I just can't see him staying with her long term. She's a bit TOO out there.

Personally, a well-done Harry/Hermione is my favorite (one in which her over-the-top authority issues and bossiness are muted somehow). Of the canon females we know, she's really the best option for him, IF the worst edge of her faults is blunted.

[kumainpink]

I like Harry with quite a few people:

Luna
Hermione
Neville
Fred and/or George
Charlie
Cedric

But I'll give nearly any pairing a chance... including Draco/Harry, Severus/Harry, and a well-written Harry/Ginny, in which Ginny is developed as a character.

Harry/Neville is my favorite pairing out of them.

[mathalamus]

i didnt like it either. mainly for the reasons stated above. also, the sudden interest for Ginny by harry always struck me as suspicious. also, Ginny looks too much like Harry's mother.

it dosn't help when Mrs Weasley commented about a love potion, or her attitude about family and children.

[sn0rkack]

I think HBP and POA are the...I don't even know how to explain it...but, those are like the least needed years, I guess. I look at it like this; when I'm thinking about making a story or planning it out, those are the years when you can get stuff done more so than any other.

PS - Harry's first year, can't do much
CoS - Gonna have to deal with Riddle and the Basilisk
PoA - Sirius escapes...and the rest is up to you
GoF - Tri-wizard tournament and Voldemort
OotP - On the border; could be the useless year it was in canon, or not
HBP - View some memories...and the rest is up to you
DH - ...I like the book, but it doesn't even count when making up your own story; just throw out the plot and keep the information given in it

[G. Novella]

A waste of a book which butchers all the characters and left me horrified. Well, it wasn't that bad, just in HP terms. Also, I didn't care for Voldie's past, Snape's past was meh, and the relationships, while I supported, came across terribly.

[Kitty279]

That book is definitely the worst in the whole series. Back then I was already disappointed and disgusted after OotP, and HBP sealed it - boring and annoying. I was very close to not reading the last book at all.

Some additional points:

To me it started out with the visit to the Dursleys already. It annoyed me that he didn't bother to include Harry in the will reading - is it even legal to have the main benefactor not there? And who gave Dumbledore authority to take care of Harry's finances?? - and that he admitted once again to know how bad the Dursleys treated him, but sent him there anyway.

Next point was that Dumbledore used Harry's fame to get Slughorn back to teach in the first place. He knows that Harry hates his fame, and still did it. Without as much as by your leave as well. He just dragged Harry there without warning and used him, as usual.

Otherwise, I agree with the importance of the memory - very small indeed. And to put it off to Harry to get it was cowardly. Did he just want to keep him from looking too closely into Malfoy's affairs, seeing that the poor, harmless Death Eater only nearly killed two people and didn't deserve the attention to his actions?

And don't get me started on that 'training'. That wasn't training, that was fairy tale telling!

As for Hermione, that one annoyed me quite a bit in that book as well with her behaviour about the potions book. To me, it was not only doubts about its reliability, but mainly jealousy because Harry finally was better than her. She always nagged the boys about studying more, but woe anyone who was better than her, she's way too competitive to accept that. And I don't see why using a different or corrected potions book would be such a crime. Potions remind me a lot of cooking, and look around how many recipes you can get for one and the same dish! Besides, if him having advanced instructions is cheating, how would you classify Hermione reading ahead all the time?

Honestly, I regretted that Harry didn't take the time to rub it in extensively that he had been right about Malfoy all the time and they with their dismissals and trust in Dumbledore were so horribly wrong. Look at what it did cost them in the end that the old codger was more worried about his pet Death Eaters than about the rest of the school.

Yeah, that sudden interest in Ginny was more than strange. It really seemed that she was just some overly shy but obsessive fangirl, and for him just Ron's sister, inevitable to avoid. And then, bang, he was in love with her? I think that is where all the stories come from that have her use love potions to get her BWL hero. Paired with Molly admitting that she used the same means long ago it's suspicious.

(And that doesn't belong to HBP, but am I the only one who thought it disturbing that not only Molly and Ginny giggled about the potion back in PoA, but Hermione as well? She should realise what that means!)

[Animikokala]

Jun 12, 2012 7:16:56 GMT -5 G. Novella said:

A waste of a book which butchers all the characters and left me horrified. Well, it wasn't that bad, just in HP terms. Also, I didn't care for Voldie's past, Snape's past was meh, and the relationships, while I supported, came across terribly.

I agree, although the stuff about Tom's past was interesting; I just wish so much time was wasted on it. Harry should have been able to see all the memories in one session, then spent the rest of the time discussing possible Horcrux locations and being trained. The whole Slughorn memory thing was nothing but a useless waste of time.

As for Ginny herself, I like her for the possibilities, with the tidbits of her personality they give in OOTP. The dancing with Fred and George when Harry came back from the hearing, Ginny telling him off about the possession, and her willingness to aid him in contacting Sirius (both times really) show hints of a fun, strong personality. But she really should have been fleshed out quite a bit more; that would have been nice and perhaps their relationship would make more sense to the readers.

And one thing I don't understand is why everyone uses the statement "Ginny is/looks just like Lily" as a reason to dislike the pairing? Because they both have red hair? My dad has dark brown, almost black hair with hazel eyes and is shorter than average; my fiance also has dark brown, almost black hair, but with green eyes, and is shorter than average. That must mean I have an Electra Complex, just like Harry must have an Oedipus Complex!

Seriously, red hair and the House they were sorted in is really the only thing I can think of that they really have in common. Lily was a prefect and Head Girl, Ginny was neither. Personality wise, I'd guess that Hermione is a closer match to Lily than Ginny; perhaps that's why canon Harry sees Hermione as a sister. Either way, we simply don't know enough about Lily's personality to do more than speculate.

[dracosfairmaiden]

I didn't like this book much. For one thing is Dumbledore's behavior. He basically uses Harry throughout the entire book. The way he used Harry's fame was awful. This was the book that started my questioning of Dumbledore. I liked Voldemort's past, but too much of the book was wasted on it.

Harry/Ginny...I support it in certain situations. I hated their relationship in cannon. She had three lines before, then all of a sudden, Harry is in love with her? That's moving too fast to me. To me, Ginny liked the 'Chosen One' or the 'Boy who lived' not Harry. If they took a few months at the end of the war to know each other, I would support it.
The way it was written in the books...no. Just no. And the love potion convo with Molly, Ginny and Hermione was awful.

I didn't like the book as you can tell.

[Silvertongue]

Jun 12, 2012 4:22:53 GMT -5 Serena R. Snape said:

I always found it strange that Harry could get interested in Ginny so... so.

Is the word you looking for, spontaneous? Out of the Blue? Randomly? 'Coz I completely agree.


Also find it mildly disturbing that Harry and Ginny look so much like Harry's parents. I don't find it a tribute to them, It's just weird. Sincerely hope Albus Severus didn't marry a redhead! No offense to any out there but it would be WAY too weird.

About the book, I quite liked it because the whole memories thing was mysterious at the beginning. I like trying to figure out WHY they were viewing them and the significance of them. the fact that there was more Draco in it was a plus.

One of my favourite lines from the whole series comes from this book "Harry Potter was rapidly becoming obsessed with Draco Malfoy." Makes me laugh every time I read it. I think that's also where my love of Drarry originated (though not the first time I read the book).

[sn0rkack]

Jun 12, 2012 10:29:33 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

Jun 12, 2012 4:22:53 GMT -5 Serena R. Snape said:

I always found it strange that Harry could get interested in Ginny so... so.

Is the word you looking for, spontaneous? Out of the Blue? Randomly? 'Coz I completely agree.


Also find it mildly disturbing that Harry and ginny look so much like Harry's parents. I don't find it a tribute to them, It's just weird. Sincerely hope Albus Severus didn't marry a redhead! No offense to any out there but it would be WAY too weird.

Would it be bad if he went and married one of his Weasley cousins? I always thought Arthur and Molly looked a little too much alike...

[Kitty279]

Jun 12, 2012 10:32:33 GMT -5 sn0rkack said:

Would it be bad if he went and married one of his Weasley cousins? I always thought Arthur and Molly looked a little too much alike...

Ugh. Now I'm feeling sick! Though, seeing how intermarried the pureblood families are, they are probably cousins to some degree anyway. Seems not to be a problem - Sirius's parents were second cousins, after all.

[Silvertongue]

The Potters, Weasleys and Blacks (Therefore Malfoys) ARE all related! though distantly, it's still there, easier enough to track. THAT is another reason Harry/Ginny is so wrong.

I'm sure one of Arthur's great something's was a Black somewhere along the line and Dorea Black was supposedly Harry grandmother. I think her and the Weasley's are cousins somehow? That's like me marrying my somehow cousin Mark! or Jamie or Tony! Ugh!!!

[Kitty279]

True, the sister of Sirius's father was married to an Ignatius Prewett. A first cousin of Walburga was thrown out of the family for marrying Septimus Weasley (Arthurs father, I believe). And a sister of Walburga's father, Dorea, was married to a Charlus Potter. I know that many believe that to be James's parents, though I doubt it. The age doesn't fit, and Sirius would have mentioned it when they looked at the tapestry. Still, there have to be more connections.

[eskimoRock]

I really liked the whole Tonks-Lupin thing in the film, and my absolute favourite chapter in that book is the chapter after Dumbledore dies, when they're in the hospital wing. Just the way Fleur proves herself to Molly (not that she should have had to- I hate the way they treat Fleur in that book) and when Tonks fights with Lupin. It just seemed so human, and real...I was so upset when they left that whole chapter out of the book, it always seemed like such an important point for me.

[Animikokala]

Jun 12, 2012 10:53:12 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

The Potters, Weasleys and Blacks (Therefore Malfoys) ARE all related! though distantly, it's still there, easier enough to track. THAT is another reason Harry/Ginny is so wrong.

I'm sure one of Arthur's great something's was a Black somewhere along the line and Dorea Black was supposedly Harry grandmother. I think her and the Weasley's are cousins somehow? That's like me marrying my somehow cousin Mark! or Jamie or Tony! Ugh!!!

Even if the Charlus Potter on the black family tree was Harry's grandfather, then Harry and Ginny would be at most third cousins once removed. Third cousins (not counting the once removed) share only about 0.8% of their genes.

However, as Dorea Black Potter died in 1977 at the age of 57, she can't be James' mother based on this: Sirius states that: When I was seventeen I got a place of my own - after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch, though (OOTP pages 103-4, UK paperback). If Dorea died in 1977, the year the Marauders/Lily graduated, then Sirius couldn't attend all that many lunches with the Elder Potters. And as someone else noted, JKR says that James' parents were quite old when he was born and died of old age. For a witch, 57 is not old at all.

It is likely that Charlus Potter and his child may have been a cousin or other Potter relative.

More disturbing would be Ginny and Neville being paired together. If the Harfang Longbottom on the Black Family Tree is Neville's great grandfather, then Ginny and Neville would be second cousins once removed.

[readingwizard4]

About Hermione freaking out on Harry about the textbook what would she call Dumbledore's Army? Harry's helping people out in DADA differently from the teacher. So I really don't see the problem or is it because it helps her out on the OWLs?

[Kitty279]

Jun 12, 2012 13:03:41 GMT -5 Animikokala said:

Even if the Charlus Potter on the black family tree was Harry's grandfather, then Harry and Ginny would be at most third cousins once removed. Third cousins (not counting the once removed) share only about 0.8% of their genes.

Who knows how they are additionally connected ... It would be interesting to know how inbred they all truly are.

However, as Dorea Black Potter died in 1977 at the age of 57, she can't be James' mother based on this: Sirius states that: When I was seventeen I got a place of my own - after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch, though (OOTP pages 103-4, UK paperback). If Dorea died in 1977, the year the Marauders/Lily graduated, then Sirius couldn't attend all that many lunches with the Elder Potters. And as someone else noted, JKR says that James' parents were quite old when he was born and died of old age. For a witch, 57 is not old at all.

It is likely that Charlus Potter and his child may have been a cousin or other Potter relative.

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Besides, 40 wouldn't be that terribly old to have children even for a muggle (though maybe not the best idea), never mind wizards. And as I already said, if Charlus and Dorea were Harry's grandparents, Sirius certainly would have mentioned them when they looked at the tapestry in OotP.

Jun 12, 2012 13:08:48 GMT -5 readingwizard4 said:

About Hermione freaking out on Harry about the textbook what would she call Dumbledore's Army? Harry's helping people out in DADA differently from the teacher. So I really don't see the problem or is it because it helps her out on the OWLs?

Very likely. Harry teaching helped her gaining an O in her OWLs = good. Harry being better than her because he has better instructions she's not using = bad. Very bad. That girl is way too competitive for her own good.

[rikustark]

I personally don't have a problem with HBP. I do have to agree that Harry/Ginny was completely out of the blue. I feel like this book was fine for being the over all set up to the last book in the series.

[sherza]

actually, anything after 35, having kids increases the chances of miscarriage, birth defects like Down's Syndrome, and a myriad of other problems more or less exponentially.

Personally, I've always believed that Charlus and Dorea are James' parents, simply because their age at death aside, everything else fits. Having your first and only child at forty ... that's definitely a 'late-life baby' and a recipe for said child to get spoiled *to death*, especially as it's the sole heir and inheritor of an apparently quite old pureblood line.

It's only been in the last twenty years or so that, WITH MODERN MEDICAL ASSISTANCE, people over forty are regularly giving birth to kids. The wizarding world does NOT have modern medical advancements. Sure, they have potions and spells, but I'll bet you any amount of money you want to name that none of it is equal or superior to the specialized care available to high-risk pregnant women and their babies.

Considering this is a bunch of people that thinks a peg leg is high tech ... yeah. Moody's eye seems to be a massive exception to the general rule when it comes to fixing broken bodies. They don't even seem to have the equivalent to cosmetic surgery, which could possibly have fixed at least some of the damage to his face.

[Kitty279]

While that is true, I know at least two people born in the 60's from mothers over 40. Though I'd not recommend it, mind you.

While I can see your point, I was of the impression that wizards get older. Dumbledore was born in 1881 - so he's way over 100 - and Minerva was supposed to be born around 1925, so already around 70 when Harry attended school, and she became Headmistress after that. Both worked way beyond what Muggles would do, which would imply that they actually get older. So, to me Dorea wasn't old enough to fit.

On the other hand, Jo's notoriously bad at math, so who knows where there are more mistakes than the ones we already know ...

[sherza]

oh yeah, I know people've had kids in their later years for a long time, just saying it's only become a *common* thing in the last twenty years or so, thanks to modern medical advancements.

Another thing, too, that effects it ... human females are born with only a certain number of eggs, and once those are spent, you're done with any possibility of reproducing, so even if wizards do live considerably longer than Muggles, the women would *still* only have a very rigid timespan in which they can conceive children, especially since they don't have the equivalents for surrogacy or in vitro or other such things.

[Animikokala]

Jun 12, 2012 15:15:28 GMT -5 sherza said:

Another thing, too, that effects it ... human females are born with only a certain number of eggs, and once those are spent, you're done with any possibility of reproducing, so even if wizards do live considerably longer than Muggles, the women would *still* only have a very rigid timespan in which they can conceive children, especially since they don't have the equivalents for surrogacy or in vitro or other such things.

JKR response: Witches have magic eggs! What is this "logic" and "biological rules" you speak of?

[Silvertongue]

*snorts milk*

HAHAH! of course! In a world of MPREG there is no such thing as limits!

[Trilonias]

...I don't understand why people always see Ginny/Harry as out of the blue. It is if you read the book and don't think about all the time between scenes, or even the offhand mention... like how Harry slowly got to know Ginny over 5th year, summer and some more of 6th year before hey, this is girl I want to be with! And then it doesn't even happen for another five months as he gets to know her even more! Also, I'm probably a bit biased with how my parents met, dated and married in about 6 months. And they're still together.

As for Riddle's past, I see the book as showing us how things came about for the readers' benefit. Something to establish history of the villian, as well as give a reason for his survival. Other than that though... Just an info dump book for the readers' benefit.

[G. Novella]

Well, i have that bias for Ron/Hermione and to a slight extent, I'd say Lupin/Tonka.

My parents constantly natter and argue like Ron and Hermione, and to those who say it doesn't work, well, I'm currently living with a stupid couple thats been married for eighteen years and still going strong. And Lupin/Tonks because my favorite aunt who reminds me of Tonks in her fun-loving personality married a guy about twelve years older to her, and I love my uncle.

[sherza]

Lupin/Tonks has always made me go d'awwwwwwwww, to be honest. She's *exactly* what he needed to finally start living, instead of surviving.